The present invention describes a feed mechanism used with a conveyor belt system to transport objects.
A wide variety of powered conveyor systems have been developed for transporting objects. Referring to FIG. 1, conveyor systems typically include a conveyor belt 101, pulleys 103 and a drive mechanism 105. The conveyor belt 101 is mounted tautly around pulleys 103 and a drive mechanism 105 rotates at least one of the pulleys 103 causing the conveyor belt 101 to move. Objects 107 placed on the conveyor belt 101 are transported from one end to the other.
In some applications additional force is required to move an object off of the end of a conveyor belt. For example, food products are often transported from a conveyor belt into a processing machine such as a slicing machine which requires additional force. Various methods have been developed for assisting in transporting objects off then end of a conveyor belt. In the food processing industry, mechanical metal claws have been attached to a food product and used to mechanically drive the product through the slicing machine. Problem with this system include: wasted material and inefficiency. More specifically, the part of the food product that is attached to the metal claw cannot be sliced without damaging the blades of the slicing machine and must be discarded. The food products transported to the slicing machine, must be attached to the claw typically by a worker which is time consuming and less efficient than an automated processing system.
Another method of assisting in transporting objects over a conveyor belt is the use of secondary conveyor belts which contact the top of objects being transported. U.S. Pat. No. 3,703,231 describes a conveyor system having several feeder conveyor belts mounted in parallel over a single lower conveyor belt. The feeder conveyor belt system of U.S. Pat. No. 3,703,231 is illustrated in FIG. 2. Object 207 travels on the lower conveyor belt assembly 211 which comprises: a feeder conveyor belt 203, an upper pulley 205 and a lower pulley 209. The feeder conveyor belt 203 rotates about the upper pulley 205 and the lower pulley 209 and the feeder conveyor belt assembly 211 rotates about the upper pulley 205. The rotational force of feeder conveyor belt 203 is applied to the object 207 and the vertical movement of the feeder conveyor belt assembly 211 conforms to the shape of the object 207.
Referring to FIG. 3, a drawback of the feeder conveyor belt of U.S. Pat. No. 3,703,231 is that a large object 205 that contacts the feeder conveyor belt 203 may lift the feeder conveyor belt 203 causing it to loose contact with a smaller object 207. What is needed in an improved feeder conveyor system capable of applying force to individual objects in close proximity.
The present invention is a feeder conveyor belt system which assists in propelling objects traveling on a lower conveyor belt. The feeder conveyor belts rotates about pulleys mounted on a movable linkage system. The linkage system allows the feeder conveyor belt to adjust to the contour of objects of various shapes. Objects traveling on the lower conveyor belt contact the feeder conveyor belt which applies a driving force to the top of the object. The suspension system allows vertical movement such that the feeder conveyor belt can apply a driving force to closely spaced objects.